Spotlight: Early electronica

Updated 4:46 pm, Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Morton Subotnick, a legendary pioneer in the field of electronic music, will be celebrating his 80th birthday with a residency and performance at Urban 15 Feb. 21-23.

Morton Subotnick, a legendary pioneer in the field of electronic music, will be celebrating his 80th birthday with a residency and performance at Urban 15 Feb. 21-23.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Spotlight: Early electronica

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These days, electronic music can be crafted with cellphones. When Morton Subotnick started exploring the possibilities of creating and composing with electronics in the '50s, he was one of a small handful of people inching out on a thin limb. Subotnick will celebrate his 80th birthday in April, but he's still out there on that musical limb. A composer, performer, educator and visionary, Subotnick, solo and with collaborators, blazed trails, and opened ears and worlds of possibilities when he began working out on the BUCHLA 100 series Electronic Music System. Subotnick will bring his BUCHLA 200e synthesizer to the fore next week at URBAN-15 to perform his “From Silver Apples to a Sky of Cloudless Sulphur: Revisited,” an expanded version of the 1967 piece, the first electronic composition released by a record label. It promises to be an interesting trip.